North and Ruth
by Leah Day
Summary: Beth and Lucas plot to bring Harry and Ruth together by using jealously, sushi and walks along the river thames.


_**North & Ruth**_

_**By Leah**_

_**Summary**_

Hi there Spooks lovers!

This is an AU ficlet in which Lucas North has a wee chat with Ruth, which, depending on the gorgeous lady, may lead to something else.

I do love Harry and Ruth together and was quite annoyed that there was so little footage of them in series 8; however, I am not a devout canon follower and couldn't resist typing out a Ruth and Lucas ditty.

After the really dramatic bit in the series 9 finale, I thought those two had such lovely chemistry together and would have liked the scene to go on for much, much longer.

Please do not read if you are a devout Ruth and Harry fan. All flames will be ignored or used to warm my widdle toes or in summer … I really shouldn't say what I'll use them for in the spring and summer, it's ghastly!

Written in Australian and UK grammar and spelling.

_**Disclaimer**_

I do not own a thing Rated M for mild sexual content.

Dedicated to my mother, a fellow Spooks fan.

_**The grid, Thames House**_

"Ruth."

Evershed jumped in her swivel chair then looked over her shoulder.

"Lucas," the beautiful woman addressed, surprised. "It's a bit late, isn't it?"

"Paperwork," her colleague riposted simply. "I'm off now."

"Well," Evershed murmured, licking her lips and rising from her seat. "I'll see you in the morning."

"And Harry isn't fine," Lucas said abruptly.

The good-looking spook slid neatly into her vacant chair.

"Ruthie, Ruthie, Ruthie," he said, baritone playfully chastising. "What are you doing to our fearless leader, eh?"

The woman shook her head, flustered.

"I don't-"

Lucas rose fluidly from his chair.

"Not here," he said. He offered her his hand. "Come on, we'll discuss this somewhere more convenient.

_**A pub**_

"What can I get for ya, mate?"

The tall spook smoothly turned his attention away from the analyst to the speaker.

"Vodka and get the lady a G and T, mate."

"Sure thing mate."

Lucas watched the barman leave then returned his attention to Ruth.

"Ruthie, Ruthie, Ruthie," he said, shaking his head.

Evershed scowled at him.

"I don't like being called "Ruthie" she reprimanded stiffly. "What do you want, Lucas?"

"Look, I care about Harry," the section chief told her frankly. "The way you two keep giving each other the chaste looks down the corridor and the stiff upper lip really isn't not good for anything except a corset drama on the Beeb. Time to put a stopper on it, don't you think?"

Ruth stared at him as if he had grown two heads.

"Ere's ya drinks chaps," the bar tender announced, placing the glasses in front of them. "That'd be six pound fifty mate."

"So?" Lucas leant back in his seat after having given the man his money and telling him to keep the change. "What's holding you back?"

Ruth took an anxious gulp of her gin and tonic.

"We're a lie," she muttered at last, staring at her glass. "We lie all the time."

"And?"

She raised her head.

"And?" she echoed, bamboozled.

"And," he said, odd coloured eyes locking in on her own. "You weren't finished."

Evershed quickly dropped her head.

"I-I really don't think I'd want to start anything while I'm in this line of work," she admitted, eyes on her knees. "Even if I was …"

She refused to say still in love with Harry.

"That's a truck load of Bollocks and you know it."

Ruth's head shot up once again, she stared at Lucas with bulging eyes.

"You're inhibited, Ruthie," the spook told her frankly. "You need a shag. A right hard rock n roll in the sack."

"L-Lucas!" she spluttered.

Dear lord, someone please shoot her now.

"What?" he asked innocently.

"I can't! It's just not going to happen!"

He smiled confidently at her.

"Finish your drink and we'll see, Ruthie," he murmured.

"Are you telling me that you think that me having, having-"

"A shag."

"With someone-that-that me having … Oh god no, Lucas!"

"Doesn't have to be with a _total_ stranger," the section chief informed, a smirk tugging at his rosy lips.

Ruth skulled the rest of her drink then coughed.

Lucas sighed and lightly thumped her back.

"There, there," he murmured, rolling his eyes. "There, there."

When she had finished coughing, Ruth felt annoyed and … and … Dear lord in Heaven, she actually felt reckless!

So very unlike her.

"You know, I really only came here for a quiet drink and I thought you were concerned about Harry," she told him frostily.

North rolled his eyes.

"Quiet drinks are overrated and believe me; we'd doing him a favour."

"I'm older then you."

"Yep."

"Harry won't be happy."

Lucas chuckled.

"Harry doesn't even need to know. I'm not doing this to give him something to grumble about. Just giving you two a push in the right direction."

"What? You're going to shag him as well?"

This time Lucas let out a bark of laughter.

"That's a good one!" he said, wiping at an eye. "No, not going to shag Harry, I'll leave that pleasure to you."

Ruth rested her head in her hand, thinking.

"I need another drink," she said at last.

Lucas raised his hand.

_**Ruth's home**_

Evershed had a tasteful home coloured with shades of rose, lavender and cream.

"So you really do like cats?" Lucas asked, noting the pictures and antiques of felines.

"Ahhh … yes," was Ruth's apprehensive counter. "They're resourceful animals. Bit like us really."

There was a loud wowl.

Lucas looked over his shoulder to see a tall Tomcat staring up at him as it elegantly made his way across the plush rosé carpet.

"Wowl," it said again. giving him a suspicious look.

"You painted your cat pink?" Lucas asked Ruth disbelievingly, inclining his head to the approaching male cat.

The woman looked in the direction then shook her head briskly.

"Nim? He's strawberry roan, not pink."

"He's pink."

"Roan."

"Pink."

"Would you like a vodka?"

North gave the woman a mildly surprised look. She wasn't going to head into an argument. She just accepted that he was not going to agree with her and chose not to head into a bickering match.

She was good.

"Please," he replied softly.

The cat grumbled then padded over to him, sniffing at his legs and shoes. It grumbled again then started fiercely pawing at the ottoman.

Lucas raised an eyebrow, amused.

"He doesn't want me here."

"No, he doesn't."

Lucas's' fingers brushed calculatingly against hers as he took the fragile glass from her.

"Do you want me here?"

Ruth blushed deeply and dropped her head.

God, the only reason why she was doing this was to get into a big white frock and canter down the isle of a big country church. The only reason why she was doing this was to make Sir Harry Pearce so bloody jealous he'd go on one bended knee and beg her to marry him despite his arthritis.

Nope, she was not doing this for a chance to walk onto the grid with a big wide smile that said "I was royally shagged by Lucas North" planted on her face.

This was stupid. So incredibly stupid. There was no way she could do this. There was no way she _should_ do this.

"This is a crazy idea, Lucas," she murmured waspishly.

Putting down the glass, the man reached out, brushing the dark silky hair with the back of his hand.

"Not if you don't want it to be," he told her mellifluously.

Feeling a little less perturbed, Ruth leaned inward.

Closer … closer …

Clash!

The pair were quick to draw apart; they looked in the direction of the sound to see Nim, having knocked over a silver cheese tray, standing on a small wooden table and glaring at them with a countenance full of perfect condemnation, ferociously swishing his tail from side to side.

"Nim!" Ruth scolded. "You bad boy!"

The cat grunted in reply then gave North a look of unadulterated smugness.

Lucas chuckled.

"Is that the best you can do?" he challenged the feline.

The strawberry roan cat gave an indignant wail then jumped down; rubbing ardently against the section chief's leg, purring loudly.

The spook rolled his eyes.

"Now he loves me," he stated wryly.

"He's a good judge of character," Ruth said, a smile gracing her full mouth.

Lucas set his glass aside, looking at her with greyish blue eyes.

"Well now that you've vetted me via the cat, why don't we take this conversation somewhere else?" he asked huskily.

Ruth swallowed thickly.

'_Thank god I changed the sheets,'_

_**Thames house, the grid**_

The following morning Evershed entered her work place with a spring in her step, wearing a very fitting lavender turtle neck skivvy and tight black pencil skirt.

"Whew, Evershed, don't you look foxy this morning in chilly old blighty!" Dmitri exclaimed, ogling the woman as she slid into her seat.

"Careful mate, her barks just as nasty as her bite," Lucas warned all the while bashing his keyboard wrathfully with his slender fingers.

Tariq dropped a manila folder on the analyst' desk then paused.

"Ruth," he said to her.

"Mmm," she replied, flipping through the pages.

"Look, totally none of my business, but is that a hickey on your neck?"

Lucas covered his mouth with his hand, suppressing a snigger.

Warily covering the mark, Ruth blushed fiercely.

"Well …" she began.

Beth stomped toward them, peeved.

"Lucas, a word," she said tersely to the taller man before Ruth could fob Tariq off, wiping wisps of blond hair from her eyes.

The officer looked up at her, frowning.

"What's got your knickers in a twist?" he asked his colleague. "Got your period?"

"Don't act vapid with me, you Pellick! Outside!" Beth hissed through clenched teeth.

Ruth and Dmitri glanced at each other then returned to their work.

"Ruth, is it a hickey?" Tariq asked again.

_**Outside Thames house**_

"Why'd you drag me out here?" Lucas demanded. "It's fucking cold!"

"Stop whining!" Beth snapped at him. "I just wanted to let you know that last night was one of the most boring moments of my life!"

Lucas folded his arms across his chest.

"What happened?"

"Well I certainly didn't shag him!"

"Thought you wouldn't have minded that, Beth," the section chief taunted playfully.

"Ugh! No! I never shagged him. _I could never shag him!_ I just asked Harry to tell me about him and Ruth. Talk about a soapie gone wrong! It's so … so … I was so sweet and understanding and within five minutes and two whiskies he was whinging about himself!"

"Did he say anything about Ruth at all?" North asked.

"He wanted to marry her and she turned him down," Bailey replied tartly.

Lucas nodded thoughtfully.

"I think I've given Ruthie the kick up the bum she needs. You've given Harry a woman's ear and opinion. Let's sit back and see how this plays out."

"Oh, and Luscious Lucas, Harry told me that if I told another soul about what he told me I'd be decommissioned. He made me sign the official secrets act for crying out loud!"

_**The grid**_

Harry had yet to take notice of the sexier Ms Evershed and the gossipers were chattering away like male celebrity fanatics on an online forum.

Lucas was not pleased.

Neither was Beth.

This was not convenient, not at all.

Marching over to Ruth's desk, North dropped a sky blue post it onto her keyboard then strode purposefully to his own.

"_Let's see how this goes, shall we?"_ he thought as he sat down on his swivel chair.

Seconds later, Ruth found the post it. After skimming it, the beautiful woman looked at Lucas as if she were a deer caught in traffic lights then straight back at what he had scrawled on the post it.

'No,' she mouthed, fervently shaking her head.

He was almost as bad as Zoe had been when she had tried to play matchmaker.

North smirked at her, reminding the analyst of a hungry wolf.

Suddenly an email notification flashed up on Ruth's screen.

Opening it, she balked.

'Sushi bar across the road at one, Ruthie, love North,'

The woman frowned at the words on the screen.

This was not part of the plan. They had slept together which had been pleasant.

Oh … no, not pleasant, that description was rather droll.

Another email popped up.

It was from Beth, it was in bold capitals and it had a very fervent looking exclamation mark at the end.

'**GO OUT WITH HIM YOU GIT!'**

'_Oh cripes,'_ Ruth thought miserably.

_**Harry's office.**_

"Harry?" Beth said.

"Yes Beth?"

"Did you notice something about Ruth today?"

"She's wearing purple?"

"Lavender. She's wearing lavender. What else did you notice?"

Harry stared at the woman, utterly confounded.

"She has a hickey on her neck!" Beth cried, exasperated. "I saw a man leaving her bedroom this morning while I was going to the sodding loo!"

"Oh," was the empty reply.

Beth blinked.

This was unexpected.

"Oh?"

"Ms Bailey. I thank you for your surveillance and forthright opinions, but I daresay whatever Ms Evershed gets up to in her private life is none of our business, comprehend?"

Beth scowled.

"Comprehend," she replied coldly then rose smoothly to her feet.

Standing at the door, the short curvaceous blond pivoted around on her heel.

"Oh, I wasn't going to mention this," Beth announced harshly. "But the man leaving Ruth's bedroom this morning and taking her out for a bite of sushi at the bar across the road today is Lucas North!"

Slamming the door behind her, Beth left her superior with a lot to think about.

_**Sushi bar**_

"So you made it?" Lucas said whilst observing the flustered Evershed as she made her way toward him and the table from his very long nose. "Sake?"

"We're meant to be working," Ruth told him straightforwardly, frowning disapprovingly at the spy.

"This is a working lunch," North replied. "Sit down, Ruthie."

Seeing that she really had no choice, Ruth sat before him, taking the offered menu from the waiter.

"Tonic water, please," she told the youngish Indian man crisply.

"And to eat?" he asked in his warm vibrant accent.

"We'll go with the boat," Lucas said evenly, taking a sip of his drink. "Don't be shy with the soy sauce and wasabi. Pile it on, mate."

"No worries."

As soon as the waiter had left them, Lucas offered her an almost mocking look.

"Woman," he addressed, clasping his hands in front of him. "You didn't try hard enough."

Ruth tilted her head a little higher.

"I don't know what you're on about."

"Yes you do," the section chief contradicted. "Harry barely batted an eyelid when you and that little skirt made their way onto the grid. Got to make an effort, Ruthie."

"So what do you think I should do? Jump on his desk and do the can-can?"

Lucas snorted.

"Don't be dramatic; he'll die of a heart attack if you did. We're trying to get you two together in holy matrimony, not him in a grave!"

Ruth leaned forward in her seat.

"And you don't think what we got up to last night wasn't …"

Lucas reached out and tweaked her nose.

"Ow!"

"That was for your benefit, Ruthie," he told her, an unbelievably sweet smile developing on his rosy mouth.

OoO

This was an odd, exciting game he, she, and Beth were playing. it bloody well had its drawbacks.

'_It's your own fault, Ruth,'_ she thought, taking her eyes away from Lucas to stare down at her hands. _'You should have said yes at the sodding church!'_

Suddenly, Lucas's' warm, hard hand covered her own.

"Harry's here,' he whispered.

Evershed's eyes widened.

'What?" she hissed.

Lucas scowled at her, silently urging her to be quiet, entwining his slender fingers with her own.

"I think we should go to Paris for the weekend," he said, carefully pitching his voice, thus making it coaxing and mildly playful.

His thumb slid lightly over her knuckle.

"On the Euro star," Ruth added, doing her best to play along, imagining walking down the isle toward Harry in her head.

"Sweet," Lucas purred.

The boat arrived at their table and at that precise moment Beth, Dmitri and the home secretary walked in.

Ruth felt the colour rise in her cheeks.

Lucas casually plopped a piece of raw salmon in his mouth.

"Ah, Harry, good to see you. You know, I'm not all that good with the old Japanese cuisine, always makes my arse go off like a-"

"I'm sure, Home Secretary, that there will be something here that won't cause compliant," Beth intervened smoothly, lovely blue eyes flitting around the room.

"Try this," Lucas invited, holding out a sushi roll smothered in soy sauce and Caribbean green wasabi, secured neatly between his chopsticks.

Ruth, knowing this was a tactic, leant forward, opening her mouth.

The wasabi hit her hard, she gasped, eyes watering.

"I think I gave you too much," Lucas decided somewhat regrettably.

Trying not to choke, Ruth gave her fellow spook a dark look.

"By jove this is jolly good stuff, eh, Harry?"

Whack!

"Oomph! Yes … Yes, Home Secretary … Certainly is."

"What happened?" Ruth whispered, not wanting to look at Harry.

"Give the Home Secretary enough Sake and he's a very chummy bloke," Lucas reported, a note of amusement in his baritone.

Phwaffffttt!

"Whoops! My apologies!"

"No need to apologise, Home Secretary."

OoO

North looked down at his mobile, reading Beth's scathing text message.

"He's taken the bait but you're going to have to push harder," the short blond had texted aggressively thus making many a spelling mistake. "Get a wriggle on you lazy twat!"

Lucas sighed and replaced his mobile.

"Fancy a walk along the Thames?" he asked Ruth.

Ruth's eyes flicked around uneasily.

They really should be getting back.

Nice afternoon breeze. Take away coffee. Lovely view of the river.

'_This is just fun … I can have fun. I don't need Harry's approval,'_

She smiled at him. A brilliant smile. One she hadn't given to anyone in ages.

"Why not," she answered and slid out of her chair. "You'll settle the bill?"

"Course."

"Meet you outside then."

_**Along the river Thames**_

Lucas slung an arm over her shoulders as they slowly walked along the footpath.

"Anything?" Evershed asked, taking a furtive sip of her coffee.

The section chief glanced over his shoulder then turned to her.

"Beth's following us. Looks like we've struck a nerve, Ruthie."

_**The Grid, Harry's office**_

"So … You and Ruth?"

Lucas raised an eyebrow.

"Yes?"

"Your relationship was not vetted through me, Lucas."

"We only just realised we were having one an hour ago," North replied evenly. "Didn't really think there was anything to report right away."

Harry stared at his section chief for quite some time, considering what he was hearing then lowered his gaze to his computer, frowning at the screen.

"Tell Ruth I want to see her, Lucas," he said quietly.

"Alright," the section chief replied slowly, feeling somewhat wary.

OoO

Ruth addressed Harry cautiously, wondering what the man in charge of them all was going to say in her presence about her rather reckless liaison.

"Not vetted," Harry grumped, glaring at her.

She coughed then laughed at him.

"What?" she asked. "What hasn't been vetted, Harry?"

"You and Lucas," was the cool rejoinder.

Ruth blinked then sighed.

"Thought you were talking about one of my cats. I took Fidget and Nim to the vet's last week."

Harry's lips pursed tightly.

"He's too young!" he snapped at last. "He has more hair then sense!"

"Lucas does have nice hair," Ruth agreed.

"How on earth did this happen?"

"Well … he and I … Actually, Harry …" She laughed, shaking her head.

"What?"

"I think you're jealous. So …" Ruth laughed again. She really couldn't help herself. " So, I'm just going to let you swim in it," she managed at last and then rose swiftly from the chair. "Ta, ta."

_**Lucas North's flat**_

"Five hundred and eighty quid for the fucking Euro star, Ruth! Hells Bells! I thought you'd be half way up the isle by now!" Lucas snapped, tossing a black singlet into a suit case.

Ruth sighed.

"Another black singlet?" she asked.

"You can't have too many."

"Hmm."

"Why can't you just ask him to marry you?" North asked, turning to face her fully. "Is it really that difficult?"

He had struck a nerve, Evershed felt shocked.

"I-I … It's too- It's just-just too hard explain," Ruth babbled, flustered, staring down at her trembling hands.

The section chief snorted.

"Really?"

"It is!" the analyst insisted fervently. "I turned him down the first time. If I ask him now he'll … It would look like I was crawling back to him."

"You mean it would look like you were admitting that you've changed your mind?"

Ruth glared at him.

Smart arse.

_**The grid, Harry's office**_

Ruth strode into the office without knocking.

"Cow bell," Harry said, annoyed.

"Bugger the cow bell. I've got something to tell you and you're going to listen."

Leaning back into his seat, Pearce folded his arms across his chest.

"Fire away," he invited her.

Ruth took a deep breath and squared her shoulders.

One .., Two … Three

"Right. Well … I've got two tickets for Paris on the Euro Star …"

_**Lucas and Beth's desk area.**_

"So," North said to Beth, standing beside her whilst she pounded on her keyboard. "They've finally got their act together."

"Thanks to us," Beth muttered, eyes never leaving the screen.

"Hmmm."

After nearly half an hour of fierce lecturing from Harry, both Lucas and Beth had been informed that he and Ruth would be taking the Euro star to Paris and thus having a tiny, quiet wedding.

The prime minister, home secretary, even the queen herself, were in on it.

Lucas was pleased that the whole scenario was over. He had been certain Harry was going to eventually do his nut and issue a kill order on him out of jealously. Not that giving Ruth a little "shag" in the right direction hadn't been great; he merely had more pressing matters to focus on. Matters involving a certain blond junior case officer sitting beside him wreaking havoc on her key board.

"Fancy a swift half?" he asked her.

Beth paused and looked the clock on her monitor.

"I'd love one," she answered.

Turning the computer off, Beth grabbed her jacket and rose from her seat.

"Lead the way, Sir," she said merrily, eyes twinkling at Lucas.

_**The end**_


End file.
